Prophecies of a False God
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: The Foggs, Passepartout, and Jules visit a city where they quickly discover a mystery going on once Jules speaks out against a man, who claims to be a prophet and that only the people's god can protect them from a volcanic destruction. After Jules is falsely arrested, his friends must discover the truth to save him before his vision for the future and his life are taken from him.
1. Chapter 1

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter One

The Aurora soared high above Catania, a city on the east coast of Sicily, until the master of the unique flying machine, Phileas Fogg, gave the orders for his manservant to set their ship down in the Italian city's outskirts in order to keep from drawing attention to themselves from Catania's citizens.

As usual, Passepartout was the first to awaken in the mornings as the sun arose and stood at the ship's helm as his master emerged from his room and gave him the orders to set the Aurora down. Both Rebecca and Jules walked out into the ship's main room as it landed, ready to explore the city as the small group prepared to set out to collect food and supplies for their continuing journeys ahead.

Passepartout spoke up saying cheerfully, "We have landed, Master; Miss. Rebecca and Monsieur Jules. Today looks like it will be a beautiful day."

In his usual demeanor, Phileas gloomily responded, "You say so every morning, Passepartout, when in fact, there are many mornings when you are indeed wrong."

"And yet, you admit that there are some mornings that are indeed beautiful, do you not, Phileas?" Rebecca asked her cousin as Jules stepped around her and admired the sights of the city in front of them.

"I admit no such thing, dear cousin," the leader answered smugly.

Jules seemed to be ignoring his friends' typical banter as he said, "I have always wanted to come here to Sicily. Alexandre has always spoken very highly of this country, including this city, especially of the women here."

Phileas replied, "Monsieur Dumas always speaks very highly of the women in every city he has visited, Jules."

"You're right, but nonetheless, I still wish to see this city's sights," Jules responded.

"And see them, you shall, dear friend," Rebecca answered and then she leaned in and softly kissed Jules' cheek with compassion. "Come along, Phileas; Passepartout. You heard Jules. Shall we see what Catania has to offer us?"

As they arrived in the center of the city, after walking in from its border, Phileas replied, "I can't imagine it is much, seeing as we are now below that ominous looking volcano."

Jules smiled at Phileas' disgruntled attitude and answered, "Do not worry, Fogg. It has been over two centuries since Mount Etna has erupted and there are no signs of it doing so again anytime soon."

"We appear to be lucky that you have come along with us on this journey, Verne, if not to do more than to appease our minds of our concerns," Phileas said in an almost mocking tone as they came to stand in front of a large fountain. "Passepartout, go off and gather the supplies we need to continue on in the Aurora. Then, meet us in an hour in front of this statue. Rebecca and I will get us something to eat for breakfast, while Verne, if he wishes, goes off to look around."

"Just be careful, Jules," Rebecca responded with concern. "Knowing our luck, you never know the kind of trouble we could run into here. I can only hope I am wrong."

Jules looked around at the people staring at them as they walked through and answered, "There is no need to be so suspicious of every place we visit, Rebecca. I am sure the people here are as friendly and hospitable as Alexandre said."

As the youngest member of their group walked away, Rebecca replied softly with fear in her voice, "I hope you are right, my friend."

"Come along, cousin," Phileas responded as Passepartout walked off as well. "I am sure Verne is right and that you worry needlessly. Let us find someplace to eat. Passepartout's last meal was hardly satisfactory."

Around the time that they had all agreed to meet back together, Rebecca and Phileas arrived back at the statue to find a large crowd gathered as they were listening to man giving a speech, at first in Italian and then began it again in other languages for those that were not native to Sicily. As the speech went on, the crowd began to grow fearful and as many of them knelt down before the man and began to cry out to him, or to their gods, in prayer.

"Passepartout, what exactly is this man saying that is causing such a growing fear and outrage?" Phileas asked as the valet walked up beside him and Rebecca. "Do you understand this man?"

The Frenchman answered, "It appears, Master, that these people here believe this man to be some kind of prophet, who claims that the volcano…"

Passepartout was suddenly interrupted when Jules walked out through the crowd as he shouted out, "How dare you claim yourself to be a prophet and lie in order to scare these people into believing in a false God! You should be ashamed of yourself and any of the rest of you who are in league with him."

"How dare you, young man, for coming here and claiming that this man is not a prophet, when you have no idea of the things that go on here, as you are clearly not from around these parts!" a man from the crowd called out angrily in the prophet's defense as he stepped forward to face off against Jules. "What right do you have to say otherwise?"

"I may not know why all of you believe that this man, who stands before you spouting off this nonsense, is a prophet, but I do know that what he is claiming will happen is a lie," Jules continued while he spoke out to the people as Phileas, Rebecca, and Passepartout moved forward to stand beside him in his own defense should the situation become ugly. "He claims he saw in a vision that the volcano outside of your city will erupt within two days time and that you all need to kneel down in prayer before a man you say is a god to plead with him for his mercy, as well as prove to him that they are worthy of his mercy by offering up your precious things and by making sacrifices in his name. I know for a fact that his vision is false, as science allows me to know that when a volcano is about to erupt, the earth below your feet will tremble and that ash will blanket the entire city days before the destruction occurs, giving all of you time, should you all believe in the warnings, to evacuate."

Another man from the crowd shouted out, "You lie! Mateo speaks the truth and has for years since the destruction of our crops in the famine."

Jules replied firmly, "I know science and unless the destruction you all believe is coming is manmade, then that volcano will not erupt, which makes this prophet and your so called god, a false prophet and false god, who are taking advantage of your fear to get whatever they desire."

"You must believe what Master Jules Verne here speaks," Passepartout responded to hope of trying to help his friend.

"No, they mustn't," a man dressed in a uniform, which led the small group of friends to believe that he was a man of whatever laws they had within this city, answered firmly, as others dressed the same way began to surround them, causing both Phileas and Rebecca tense up and move to stand between them and Jules. "This young man the three of you are protecting now is under arrest."

Phileas drew his sword as he asked angrily, "Under what charges?"

Jules gently placed his hand over Phileas' arm and said softly, "Don't, Fogg, please."

"I suggest you listen to your friend," another one of the men in uniform spoke up again. "He may be smarter than what he initially appeared to be."

"He is under arrest for slander against our god and for causing a disturbance amongst the people of our city," the first officer continued.

Phileas raised his sword once again as he replied steadfastly, "You will take our friend over my dead body."

Jules turned to look at him and his other friends and responded, "Let them take me to their prison, Fogg. I will look nothing, if not guilty if we were to fight against their law enforcers. They will see no reason to believe in anything that I've tried to say."

"Jules, I…" Phileas tried to say until Jules cut him off.

"You need to find out whatever it is going on here and find a way to stop whoever this self-made god and prophet really are, or these people are going to lose everything they have," Jules whispered so that only his friends could hear him. "I'll be all right."

Phileas lowered his sword, but continued to glare at the lawmen as the lead officer placed iron shackles over Jules wrists and said, "Your boy here is smart. We'll be in touch about his sentencing. Until then, I suggest you stay silent or we will have the three of you arrested as well."

The Foggs and Passepartout watched as the men led their friend away and then Phileas looked over at his manservant and spoke up saying, "I want you to follow them and find out where they are taking Verne, but whatever you do, do not let yourself be seen. Rebecca, you and I are going to find out exactly what's going on here."

"And how exactly do you plan we do this?" Rebecca asked as Passepartout swiftly and silently walked off to follow after their friend.

"We do as we always do," Phileas answered smugly. "We protect each other and then make everyone involved in this chaos pay."


	2. Chapter 2

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Two

Passepartout followed and watched the men ahead of him as they led Jules through the city's streets, until they came to a small brick structure with a metal cell door, which they clearly used as a single prison, and stopped outside of it. The valet watched as two of the lawmen held tightly onto his friend, while another one stood in front of him and then suddenly struck him hard across the face. If it weren't for the men holding onto the writer, he would have fallen hard to the ground.

Jules glared at the man standing before him, who only laughed and then nodded toward his men, giving them the order to throw him into the cell. Passepartout hated that he couldn't move in to help his young friend, but Jules had asked him and the others not to interfere and so the Frenchman stayed back and continued to watch until the one lawman left, leaving the other two to remain behind and stand guard.

Once he saw them settle down for their watch, Passepartout swiftly looked around and discovered that the walls wrapping around the structure aligned themselves with its roof, making it so that he would be able to climb up onto it, hopefully without being noticed. After doing so, he found that there was a small vent in the cell's roof and when he moved over to it, he looked down and found Jules as he was leaning up against one of the four walls while rubbing his hand across his face where he was struck moments ago, waiting patiently for whatever was going to happen.

The valet spoke up quietly through the opening saying, "Do not worry, Master Jules. I am here to make sure you stay all right."

Jules looked up in surprise and asked softly, "Passepartout, what are you doing? You are supposed to be finding out what is going on around here."

"Do not worry, Jules," the valet answered. "Miss. Rebecca and Master Fogg are out doing so, but I am here, you know, to make sure you are safe. Master gave me this order. I will not let them harm you again."

"If you're referring to one of the guards backhanding me a few minutes ago, don't worry about it," Jules replied as he continued to rub over the soreness that was forming. "It was nothing. I told you I would be all right."

Passepartout responded, "You do not know that. We do not know what these people's intentions are, but we will find out and we will stop them."

Jules smiled and then answered, "I know you will. Fogg doesn't seem so sure though. He called me Jules earlier. He only does that when he's really worried about me."

"There is no you will, Jules," Passepartout said again, blocking out the fear that sounded in the young writer's voice. "We will, we will stop them; together."

"You're right," Jules replied. "But I promise you, I'll be fine. I need you to help Fogg and Rebecca."

The valet shook his head and responded, "No can do, Jules. Orders are orders and I shall not disobey Master or he will have reason to fire me. I do not wish to leave. I like you all too much."

Jules smiled as he looked up at his friend again and answered, "Thank you, Passepartout. To be honest, I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," the Frenchman replied softly as another one of the lawmen walked below them. "Let's hope Master and Miss. Rebecca is faring better than you, and me too."

Meanwhile…

After continuing to listen to the man, who claimed himself a prophet of the people, as he finished his so called prophesying, Phileas and Rebecca watched as the Catania's citizens continued their prayers and pleas for mercy, then scurry off to their homes in order to collect their offerings for their god, just as the prophet had said for them to do. As the prophet, whom the people called Mateo, finished, both Phileas and Rebecca followed after him from a distance to see where he was going next, in hope of finding answers.

"All of what this, Mateo, has said is utter rubbish and he is nothing more than an imbecile," Phileas muttered in frustration. "He belongs in an asylum."

Rebecca nodded in agreement, but responded, "Yes, but that is what many people have said about Jules as well and you and I both know how wrong they all are about that."

The group's leader looked over at his cousin and asked in anger, "You can't possibly believe that that man in front of us is half the man that Verne is, do you? I mean, surely not?"

"No, I don't," Rebecca answered as she smiled softly. "Not in the slightest. I just wanted to see how you would react."

"I may not know nearly as much about science as either Verne or even Passepartout, but I do believe that Verne is right about this volcano," Fogg replied. "Unless whoever is in charge of this entire deception has the capacity to cause an eruption, should the people refuse to follow this so called prophet of theirs, then Verne is right. It will be a manmade disaster. However, if they do follow him, then they will only go on believing in him and in their god, causing them to lose everything, quite possibly their very lives. Either way, their lives are only going to become worse, whether it's within years, or in years to come."

Rebecca responded, "Agreed, but I am curious, how is it that if they have been following Mateo's prophecies for years, as one of the citizens said earlier, that this city still seems to be thriving as it is?"

When they suddenly stopped walking forward and then quickly hid behind one of the city's stone walls as Mateo stop ahead of them, look around him, and then finally disappear into one of the buildings before them, Phileas answered, "Let us hope that we're about to find out some of these answers. Shall we follow and get to know who this god of theirs really is, cousin?"

"Yes, let's," Miss. Fogg replied. "I hope Jules is all right."

"If he isn't, I will make sure that everyone responsible pays, with their lives if need be," Phileas responded solemnly.

Rebecca corrected him by saying, "I think you mean we, Phileas. We will make them pay."


	3. Chapter 3

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Three

When the two adventurers waited long enough for Mateo to get farther ahead into the building and through the dusty window they saw that the way was clear, Rebecca and Phileas opened the door quietly and slowly, hoping not to alert anyone inside to their presence. As they made their way further in, they quickly ducked under the large staircase as they heard three men talking above them, one of whom was Mateo, who was apparently upset as his voice grew louder as the argument went on.

They heard him speaking with a French accent, instead of with the Italian accent he had used before, saying, "You don't seem to understand, it has been hard enough over the years to deceive these people into believing that I am a seer of the future. Now, a young man arrives and threatens to destroy our work."

One of the other men, also with a French accent, replied, "I think you underestimate your good work here, Jacques. What harm could this man really have done? He is just a boy."

"He is a boy, who knows the science and has the knowledge to convince Catania that we are lying to them," Mateo, or Jacques, as Phileas and Rebecca now know, answered. "The others with him mentioned that his name is Jules Verne. If anyone can destroy everything our leader has built here, then it is him, as well as his friends."

"This, Jules Verne, has already been arrested before he could do any damage and soon he will be brought before our, god as the people call him, who will do with him as he sees fit," another one of the men responded. "Meanwhile, you can go on being the people's prophet after you repair whatever damage has been done. We will take care of the others, who have come here with the boy."

The other men laughed smugly as Jacques replied with less confidence, "I hope you're right."

Jacques and the others walked off through the hallway above and when they saw that they were clear, they walked out from under the staircase as Rebecca moved to follow after the men while she said, "We have to go after them."

"We will go after them later, but right now Verne is in danger," Phileas answered with objection. "We must find him first, before these obviously treacherous lawmen can bring him to whoever this god of theirs is."

"Yes of course, you're right," Rebecca responded as she swiftly followed her cousin back out the door, both of them hoping that they will get to their friend in time.

Back inside the prison, Jules continued to sit in silence as he leaned heavily against the walls in a corner of the structure, a combination of fatigue and fear weighing heavily on him despite Passepartout's continuing vigil above him. His face was still painful from where he had been struck by one of the lawmen, but he ignored it, as it didn't really matter anymore. The young writer only worried about whatever it was going on here in Catania.

After being locked up for almost two hours, the structure and ground began to shake as one of the walls on the opposite end of the prison suddenly began to open up, revealing a secret passage to somewhere dark and unknown. Jules quickly stood up and backed himself up against the far wall as three men stepped out from the opening, each of them armed with some kind of guns.

Jules was the first to speak up as he asked fearfully, "Who are you? What exactly are you doing here?"

One of the men stepped out from the others with a grin on his face and replied, "You'll find out soon enough, boy. There's someone, who is very anxious to see you again."

"What do you mean; who?" Jules asked as the man continued to move toward him.

"As I said before, you'll see," the man answered again as he and one of the others grabbed Jules and pulled him roughly away from the wall and then used a gun to strike him hard across the back of his head, quickly knocking him unconscious.

Passepartout watched fearfully through the vent above them as the bigger of the men easily picked his friend up and tossed him over his shoulder, then carried him away, back through the dark passage, the wall closing again behind them once they disappeared. The two men that had stayed behind to guard the prison earlier only laughed and then walked away. The valet jumped down from the roof just as Phileas and Rebecca ran past him until Passepartout called out to them to stop.

When he caught up to them, he quickly asked, "Master; Miss. Rebecca, how you find me?"

Fogg responded, "Sheer luck, Passepartout. Where's Verne?"

"They take him, Master," the valet replied in panic as he fought to catch his breath. "I could do…"

"I thought I told you to stay with him, to protect him?" Phileas said angrily.

Passepartout answered, "I could do nothing, Master. Come, follow me. I will show you."

After the Frenchman led Fogg and his cousin to the structure where Jules had been held, Rebecca asked, "What happened here, Passepartout?"

"I hid on roof of prison, as you told for me to stay hid, and suddenly, a wall opened," the valet responded.

"What do you mean a wall?" Rebecca asked again. "Do you mean inside this room?"

Passepartout nodded as he walked over to the same wall he had seen open up earlier, then began to feel around for a lever or device that would open it back up, and replied, "Si, yes, there is secret passage behind this wall, here."

Fogg and Rebecca both began to follow suit, but after looking around for anything that would open the passage open again, they found nothing and Fogg banged his fists up against the wall in frustration as he angrily shouted out, "Damn! This wall must only open up from the opposite side."

"What are we going to do, Master?" Passepartout asked. "How we find Jules Verne?"

"We could just blow the wall away and then follow to wherever the passage leads us," Rebecca answered.

Phileas shook his head and responded, "No, if we blow the wall, they may hear the explosion and could decide to either move Verne someplace else, or they may decide to kill him before we can reach him. We must find the prophet and convince him to tell us everything. If he refuses, we will bring these lawmen down one by one if we must until they tell us where they have taken our friend. God help them if he is harmed."


	4. Chapter 4

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Four

When Jules awoke, the first thing he noticed was the throbbing pain in the back of his head and neck and his vision was blurry. However, he pushed through the pain, while fighting to clear the fogginess and after he finally did, he focused on his surroundings. He discovered that he was lying on the ground in front of a chair connected to some kind of contraption, which somehow looked oddly familiar to him, his wrists still bound by the shackles that had been put on him earlier by the city's lawmen.

The writer tried to move and got as far as sitting up when the same three men that had entered his prison earlier, walked into what he saw was a fiery lit cavern and stopped in front of him with grins on their faces, while one of them spoke up saying, "I must have hit you harder than I thought. You've been out for more than a few hours now. How do you feel?"

Jules responded sarcastically, "How do you think I feel? What is this place and what do you want with me? Who are you?"

"So many questions, Jules Verne," a deep, dark, and always recognizable voice that sent chills down the young writer's spine when he spoke, sounded from the shadowed corner of the room. "But then, that was how you always have been, allowing your inquisitive mind to become the most brilliant I have ever known."

"Count Gregory?" Jules asked fearfully. "But how is it possible? You died. Fogg and I pushed you off a cliff through a waterfall. No one could have survived that."

The count replied, "Perhaps no ordinary man could have survived that, no, but then again, I am no ordinary man, am I Mister Verne; a man, who was torn apart by the Turks in the fourteenth century and then revived by the monks hidden in the catacombs beneath Constantinople?"

Jules slowly and painfully made his way onto his feet in hope of trying to show more courage than what he was feeling and then answered, "You are no man at all, but a monstrosity with a second rate mind, just as I said the last time we met. Come out from the shadows and stop hiding like a coward!"

"If there is anyone of us here, who should be afraid, it is you, Verne," the count responded as two of the men suddenly grabbed a hold of him once again, roughly shoved him back into the chair behind him, then began to work on attaching the device around his head that was attached to the chair, as well as a group of wires leading to other machines surrounding him, and worked on chaining his wrists and legs to the chair, while Gregory moved out from the shadows, again in his rickety wheel chair. "Does any of this seem familiar to you, Jules?"

"Arago said it was just a nightmare, but I think deep down he had only said that so that I wouldn't give up in trying to use my imagination and vision of the future to help mankind," Jules answered as he thought back to the night before he had met Phileas, Rebecca, and Passepartout for the first time. "I would have given up if it weren't for my friends and no doubt you would have killed me a long time ago."

Gregory replied, "No, I would have had you on my side, working for the League of Darkness if it weren't for Phileas Fogg, his beautiful cousin, Rebecca, and that fool of a valet of theirs."

The writer responded firmly, "You're wrong. I never would have joined you even under the threat of death and I never will."

"I know, but you see, Jules Verne, I no longer need you, as I once again have a this machine that my men are currently strapping you into, which will allow me to take from you all that I need before I dispose of what will be left of you when we are finished," the count replied smugly. "Arago is not here to save you this time."

"No matter what happens to me, you will fail and the Foggs and Passepartout will stop you once and for all," Jules answered with strong conviction, despite the increased fear he was feeling every minute he sat with this device around his head. "They will not allow you to continue playing God over these people here in Catania."

Gregory just chuckled and then responded, "Get some rest now, young Verne. You will need your strength for what is in store for you. I have to deal with your friends, then I will be back, and we can begin."

Meanwhile…

After Phileas, Rebecca, and Passepartout left the prison where their friend had been held, they made their way back to the building Mateo the prophet had gone into as they followed him earlier. However, after storming through the entire place, they found no one was there any longer, making Phileas even more on edge than he already was and itching for a fight. Both Rebecca and Passepartout couldn't help, but feel the same, as Jules meant the world to each of them.

Passepartout spoke up as he asked, "Where we search now, Master?"

"You can try looking for Mateo, or whatever his name is, down at the church near the outside of town," a man replied as he slowly walked into the building behind them, while both Fogg and Rebecca raised their guns and pointed them straight at him.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Phileas asked firmly as he moved forward toward the stranger.

The man slowly raised his hands up in the air as he answered, "I have been looking for you and your friend, who spoke out against Mateo this morning. I promise you, I mean you no harm."

Phileas continued, "Then, what are you doing here? Speak fast; we are in no mood for games and we do not have time to waste."

"I have always been unsure of Mateo's teachings and so called prophecies, as well as the intentions of this god that no one around here have ever seen before, except for statues of his likeness, or so we have been told, but it wasn't until today when your friend bravely spoke outright against him that I knew I was right to doubt them," the man responded. "Despite your new arrival here in our city, your friend appeared to understand a lot more in a morning than any one of us could in a lifetime."

"Yes, Verne has a very special mind with a keen understanding of much more than any other men we know or could hope to know," Phileas replied as he lowered his gun, as did Rebecca and Passepartout. "My name is Phileas Fogg, this is my cousin, Miss. Rebecca Fogg, and my valet, Passepartout. You are?"

The man answered, "I am Tom Nelson, a physician around our city. Are you here at Mateo's home to get to the bottom of whatever it is they're hiding from us? Are you here to help us?"

Rebecca nodded and responded, "That and to find out where they have taken our friend. He has been kidnapped and we fear he is in great danger."

"I am sorry," Tom replied. "Mateo should be at the church right now, as he always is at this time, but you must be careful. If Mateo is indeed a false prophet as your friend has said, then so is whoever is posing to be our god. Whoever he is, he is a very powerful man. I hope you find your friend in time. I would very much like to meet him."

"Thank you, Tom," Rebecca answered kindly as Phileas and Passepartout walked back out of the home, and then she followed suit as the three of them made their way toward the edge of town in search of the church, hoping that the physician was right.


	5. Chapter 5

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Five

Jacques sat alone in one of the pews at the front end of the chapel, staring off blankly at nothing, as his mind felt heavy. Was it because he was ashamed of helping the league to kidnap Jules Verne? No, he had helped them kidnap and kill a number of people in order to sustain their future. It was when he suddenly felt the barrel of a gun being pushed hard up against the back of his head that he realized he felt this way because he was afraid to be caught or die at the hands of Phileas Fogg, whom he knew would make him pay cruelly for his crimes.

Phileas stood behind the false prophet with his finger on the gun's trigger as he said quietly, but angrily, "Speak quickly and truthfully, or I will not hesitate in doing what I must to get the answers I seek. Where have your friends taken Jules Verne?"

Hiding his fear of death, Jacques slowly rose to his feet and then turned around to face Fogg as he answered, "You will not find your friend in time to save him, Fogg. He has most likely already begun to take from Verne what he wants and if he hasn't, he will very soon. You cannot stop him. You have already tried."

"What do you mean?" Phileas asked again as he looked over at Rebecca and then back at the man in front of him. "Who are you and who is he?"

"What exactly is your endgame here that requires you to pretend to be a prophet of these people and your leader a god?" Rebecca added.

Jacques responded, "I work with the League of Darkness, still under the rule of Count Gregory."

Passepartout replied quickly, "Impossible! The count was killed by Masters Fogg and Jules over year ago."

"He is right," Phileas spoke up again. "Even a monster like Count Gregory could not have survived that."

"But he has," Jacques answered smugly. "Somehow he has and he has been working with the brightest of scientists to rebuild the very machine needed to extract from your friend his vision of the future for himself. He has just been waiting for Jules Verne to come to him again and now he finally has. I have nothing to do with his plans for Verne, but have been with the league for many years now. Our ploy here is to help the count fund his operations and projects and have been far longer than any of us have expected our lies to go on."

Rebecca raised her own gun up under the man's chin and responded angrily, "You have deceived these poor people into believing that you were a seer and that Count Gregory is a god for years by striking fear into their hearts, all for money to help the count fund his cruel inventions? How can you do this?"

Jacques replied firmly, "Because, the League of Darkness is the future and I am honored to have been a part of it."

"I will not ask you again," Phileas said vigorously as he cocked back the glock on his gun, prepared to fire. "Where is our friend?"

"If you shoot me now, you will never find him, at least not on time to save him," Jacques answered smugly as he turned around to face Fogg.

Rebecca had lowered her weapon slightly as he turned, as did Fogg, which gave Jacques the opportunity he needed as he suddenly grabbed onto the Englishman's gun hand and thrust him backward and into all the lit candles lined up side by side and then he began to run. Phileas quickly got off of the flames, while both Rebecca and Passepartout fired shots toward the false prophet in hope of keeping him from escaping, but it did them no good as he managed to do so anyway through a door a few feet in front of him.

Phileas ran after him, followed by Rebecca and Passepartout, but as they made their way outside the church, they found that Jacques had disappeared, causing Phileas to bang his right fist into the wall and then shout out, "Damn him! I should have shot him while I had the chance, or better yet, I should have stabbed him with my blade through his blackened heart."

As they were about to leave to go back into the center of town, a number of the lawmen, including those who had taken Jules away earlier, once again began to surround them as they were well armed with various weapons and prepared for a fight. Passepartout raised up his own gun and Fogg lifted his cane as he pulled out the sword inside it.

As Rebecca readied herself for the fight, she responded, "You may still get your chance to do so, Phileas, but whatever you do, we must leave at least one of these men alive, seeing as they might be the only ones who can lead us to Jules."

Three of the men lunged forward to begin the attack with swords in their hands as Phileas worked to fight them off, while Rebecca managed to knock the weapon from another attacker and quickly tossed it over to Passepartout, who then charged his own men, now with two guns instead of the one. Rebecca preferred to use her fists and legs to bring her attackers down, unless otherwise needed, but she seemed to be doing fine without needing much help from her cousin and friend.

Once the fight was finally finished, the Foggs and their valet looked around at the men now on the ground and found that most of them were dead, but upon a closer look, they discovered that one of them were still alive, although wounded badly. Phileas tried to awaken him to get him to tell them where Gregory's men had taken their friend, but when he couldn't, he ordered Passepartout to gently lift him off the ground, then toss his body over his shoulder, and carry him through the streets as they made their way into the city's center in search for the physician they had met a short time ago, Tom Nelson.

The small group hoped that the man would be able to revive their attacker well enough and long enough for him to be able to tell them how to find Jules. If he couldn't, the three of them would spend as much time as it took to search for their friend, killing anyone who got in their way and tried to stop them, without a second thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Six

As they walked through the twisted streets, looking to find the physician's home, Passepartout, who was still carrying the wounded man over his shoulders, spoke up as he asked his friends, "I just realize something, Master. Earlier, when prophet reveal that his master is the count, we all act surprised he is still alive, but wasn't it he, who kidnapped you and Miss. Rebecca, when you almost die weeks ago?"

Rebecca responded solemnly, "It was a very dark time for us, Passepartout. We weren't actually sure what was real and what wasn't, except for the overwhelming fear of defeat. We never saw our captor and though we heard his voice, we thought that it was that dark place playing tricks with our minds, playing on our darkest fears."

"Perhaps we only fooled ourselves into still believing that Gregory was dead, which was a mistake to do so, but that doesn't matter now," Phileas continued with fear in his voice. "The monster is alive, he has our friend, and we know a bit of what he has planned for him. After Sir Nigel Harwell made Verne seriously ill less than a month ago, we know that the count and the League of Darkness will stop at nothing to steal from Verne his vision for the future. We must stop Gregory by any means necessary, before he can kill our friend, this time or ever again. I just pray that it is in time before Verne gives up all hope of a bright future, which he will undeniably be a major factor in creating such splendor."

"Jules has a stronger will than most people give him credit for, Phileas," Rebecca answered sadly. "He will fight to survive, but we all have a breaking point. How long…"

Passepartout interrupted, feeling less conviction than what he was hoping to portray for his friends to keep their hope alive, "We will find him, masters. Of this, I have no doubt."

A number of people began passing by them in a hurry to get into the center of town as Rebecca replied, "Thank you, Passepartout. I do… believe… what on earth is going on that is causing such a frenzy?"

"Excuse me, what is happening?" Phileas asked as he grabbed a hold of a man's arm as he passed by them.

"Mateo is speaking once again from the balcony of his home," the man responded. "He will reveal whether or not our offerings to our god will be enough to save us from the volcano's eruption."

As the man ran off, both Phileas and Rebecca became mesmerized by the number of people flocking to hear the man that most of them believe to be a real prophet until Fogg quickly turned to his valet and said, "I need you to take our attacker to the physician, whom I am sure you can find out where he is by asking someone around here, and tell him to do whatever he can to keep him alive, then I need you to find out from him where he has taken Verne. Do you understand?"

Passepartout nodded and answered, "Yes, master, but where you and Miss. Rebecca going?"

"We're going to bring down a false prophet, as we promised Verne we would," Phileas replied and then he and Rebecca ran off to catch up with the rest of the crowd.

By the time they reached where everyone had gathered outside of the prophet's home, which turned out to be the very building the adventurers had first followed him into much earlier, they found that Jacques had already begun his speech as he was standing on one of his balconies as the man had said he was.

"Your god is not at all pleased with your offerings," he was saying. "You have not given enough, nor does he believe that you have made sacrifices that are worthy of him sparing your lives once again. Having saved you from famine and from earthquakes is much, but you have not given enough in return for all he has done for you. He is displeased that many of you have believed the words of the stranger, who came into our city this morning spouting off blasphemy tried to get you to deny your god. Now, he suffers greatly for his crimes, as will those who came with him. Our god is real and the volcano will erupt unless you beg for his forgiveness and sacrifice much. To prove to you I speak the truth, I make the ultimate sacrifice. I ask for him to take up upon himself my soul, as now I die."

People cried out in fear and sorrow as Mateo suddenly jumped from off the balcony and fell to his death on the ground below at their feet. Both Phileas and Rebecca were shocked at the man's actions, but they understood the real reasons for his suicide, which the city's people did not. The adventurers knew that he gave his life to ultimately prove to the people that this god of theirs, that Count Gregory, is indeed a god and they knew now that it would take much more than just their word to prove otherwise.

Once they swiftly and quietly left the crowd in order to avoid getting mobbed by the people they knew would fight to kill them now for speaking against the count, Rebecca spoke up as she asked, "How exactly do we prove to them now that their god is indeed false, Phileas? Jacques pretty much just sealed their fate with his death."

Her cousin and leader of their group stopped her from moving forward in order to look at her in the eye as he responded, "By showing to them, who it is they have really been making their offerings and sacrifices for, after we kill Count Gregory once and for all."

"Sounds good to me," Rebecca answered. "I am just curious, everyone here believes in this god because of Gregory's inventions he has created to first cause the problems they are all talking about, then to fix them, they have a statue, which they believe is his likeness, but yet, they have never actually seen him?"

"As is the way with the gods in any religious beliefs, not that I believe in God for certain," Phileas replied. "He or she may never be seen except for in statues, but their prophets are. It's a genius plan to be sure."

Rebecca scoff as she responded, "Genius, perhaps, but I prefer the word, evil."

Phileas nodded, "I quite agree with you, cousin. Shall we finally find Passepartout?"

"Yes, let's," Rebecca answered as she and Phileas moved forward again, hoping that the valet had found the physician and that he was already working on getting the information they so desperately needed to find Jules.


	7. Chapter 7

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Seven

Instead of resting after the count had left, as if he could being strapped into a chair with some kind of metal ring around his head, Jules thought back to all of Arago's lessons as far back as he could remember, especially to his last days with him before he mysteriously disappeared from his life for the final time. He never did know what happened to the old man or why he left. Jules just remembered him saying that his time with him was finished. However, he had vague memories of him being there for him when he was under Dr. Harwell's hallucinations a month ago.

Arago had taught him to be careful with whom he shared his ideas and vision with and he also remembered him telling him to close his mind off to those who threatened to steal it. Jules managed to do it against the doctor's drugs, but Count Gregory was different. He was ruthless and smarter than any of the other villains he and his friends had ever come across. How long would he be able to resist? How long would it be before the young writer no longer believed his deranged mind, as Fogg had called it, was a gift, rather than a curse? He wasn't sure.

As his mind had drifted off, Jules had no idea how much time passed before the league's doctors and scientists walked back into the cavern, which he now realized, since his mind is clearer than it was before, that they were somewhere within the volcano, and began to finish up with last minute details before they began his torture. It wasn't much longer before Count Gregory wheeled in again as well and kept watch on his men, overseeing their preparations until he finally turned around and locked eyes on Jules. He kept up his defiance, despite the deep fear he felt in the pit of his stomach.

"Are you ready for my men to begin, young seer?" the monster asked as he wheeled over to be face to face with Jules.

"I have told you before, I am no seer or the future, or a psychic, or anything else that you all seem to think I am," Jules answered in frustration. "I am just a writer, who has an overactive imagination, nothing more. I don't know what the future holds."

Gregory replied, "You see, Verne, it is because of that imagination of yours that I believe you are the brightest man of this time and will indeed be a big influence of our future. This is why you here."

Jules glared at the count as he responded bravely, "There will be a bright future for the Foggs and Passepartout and for everyone else, whether I am in it or not, but there will be no future for you, Count. They will stop you and you won't be able to come back again."

"You underestimate my power," the count answered. "You underestimate me."

"You're wrong," Jules replied. "You overestimate yourself and you underestimate the Foggs' will to ensure the same future as I dream of. You will lose."

Count Gregory grew angry at the young man's bravado and turned to face his men as he shouted, "Begin the machine! I want what is in his mind! I want it now!"

A doctor walked over in front of the count and as he bowed before him out of fear for his own life, he stuttered, "We… we can begin… right away, but… but… we must go slow… and be pa… patient. If we don't, he will d… die."

"Then, stop sniveling and get on with it," Gregory responded.

"Yes, master," the man answered and then moved to stand in front of Jules as he tightened the small, metal prods up against his head all around the spherical device that connected him to the machines surrounding him. "Forgive me, my young friend, but, as I am sure you already know, this will hurt."

Jules only ignored the man as he stared down at him with a smug look across his face and then when he finished, he moved to walk back into the area where the controls stood, in order to wait for the process to begin. Once the count gave his signal, one of his scientists standing beside the doctor, who only stood back to watch, as he was there to make sure that Jules stayed alive until the count was finished with him, stepped forward and turned a dial to its lowest setting on the machine before him. The only sound that could be heard then throughout the cavern was the sound of panting and then suddenly a loud scream, as pain radiated throughout Jules' skull and body.

Meanwhile…

When Phileas and Rebecca finally made it to the physician's home, they knocked, but only Passepartout came up to greet them and said, "Master and Miss. Rebecca, you make it. Good, but doctor isn't here. His house is unlocked, but no one is home. I come inside to try to help this man, but he is already dead."

Rebecca looked down at the body of their attacker and then back over at Passepartout and asked in surprise, "But how is that possible? He was wounded, but surely it wasn't that bad?"

"Poison, I believe," the valet replied as he walked around the table where the body lay and lifted a bit of a powdery substance onto his finger from the corner of the man's mouth. "I not sure, but later I can examine it aboard the Aurora, once we find Master Jules, of course."

"He must have taken it when Passepartout turned his back for a moment," Phileas responded somberly as he sat down in a chair nearby in defeat. "Death was better than to allow himself to be interrogated by us. We have failed again."

Passepartout objected, "We have not failed Jules, Master. We only hit rake in the road."

Rebecca smiled softly as she said, "That's fork, my friend. We hit a fork in the road, not a rake and Passepartout is right, Phileas. We are not finished yet."

"What about prophet?" the Frenchman asked. "He must know where Master Jules is?"

"I am afraid Mateo, or Jacques, is dead also," Phileas answered angrily. "He too killed himself before we could question him again and in front of all of Catania."

Passepartout replied, "We can still blow up wall inside prison cell blocking passage the men that took Jules went. Hopefully, it's a long passage and no one will hear us coming."

Phileas responded solemnly, "Yes, it appears we have no choice. We shall head back to the Aurora to gather us the supplies we need. Thank you, Passepartout."

Phileas walked out of the physician's home in dejection, then Passepartout looked over at Rebecca, and stated with surprise, "Master hardly ever apologizes and I do not recall him ever looking like this before; so defeated."

"I have, but only after the death of his brother and then once again when he thought he had killed us all at that bloody castle in Scotland," Rebecca answered sadly. "He only gets this way when he is truly afraid or believes he has failed those he cares about most."

"As I say before, we will find him," Passepartout replied. "And then Master can butcher the count as he wishes. He will like this."

"I hope you're right, Passepartout," Rebecca responded quietly to herself after the Frenchman walked away. "I really do, or it may mean the end of Phileas Fogg."


	8. Chapter 8

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Eight

On their walk back to their flying ship to gather the supplies needed, Phileas remained silent, while both Rebecca and Passepartout talked quietly amongst themselves, knowing that their cousin and friend wasn't in the mood to be bothered with anything more than the larger details that were necessary to rescue Jules and kill Count Gregory and the league's evil doings here in Catania once and for all.

When they were finished, they swiftly made their way back through the city, avoiding the people as they went, and when they arrived back at the structure where the lawmen had first taken their friend, Passepartout quickly worked to set the dynamite in place to blow the wall away.

After the blown debris settled, before the smoke had even cleared, the three adventurers stepped through into the passageway, seeing that it was indeed a long tunnel, which Passepartout had deduced ran underneath the cobbled streets and then as he ran his hands along the walls, Phileas finally spoke up saying, "These walls seem to be getting warmer the deeper in we travel. Why is that, Passepartout?"

The valet responded, "I thinking that we walk to volcano, Master. The closer we get, the hotter walls become."

"You mean, you think we're walking into the volcano?" Rebecca asked again. "I didn't realize it was possible to get this close, or safe, I should say?"

"It's possible, but I no recommend it," Passepartout answered. "A room in volcano would be…"

Phileas interrupted, "Like being in the pit of hell. No matter how hot or how startling it becomes, we must keep going, as there have yet been no other passages the men could have taken our friend."

Rebecca replied, "Of course, Phileas. You can't possibly believe that I am afraid, do you?"

"No, of course not, Rebecca," Fogg responded. "Nothing frightens you."

"Nothing except for the prospect of losing those I care about," she answered. "For Jules, I would walk through hell or anywhere, just as I know you and Passepartout would as well."

The Frenchman replied, "She is right, Master."

Phileas responded, "Yes, I know."

Walking deeper into the tunnel, not knowing how much farther the distance they had to travel, it wasn't long before they suddenly heard a scream, which caused them stop dead in their tracks, then Rebecca cried fearfully, "Dear God, Jules."

"They hurting him," Passepartout said sadly.

"They're torturing him to get from him whatever it is they want," Phileas corrected as he suddenly took off running in hope to get to Jules as fast as he could, followed closely by the others.

Though his scream had died off, the adventurers knew that Jules' pain had not stopped as they continued running through the passage to get to him, but when they finally arrived at the end, they came to a large cavern that was filled with a large number of league agents, Jules Verne being in the middle of the room strapped to some kind of machine, which Rebecca quickly discovered was the same machine she remembered from the first time she laid eyes on Verne, as well as Count Gregory. He was being tortured by the count then too, but was aided by the young writer's guardian, Arago.

"Passepartout, I'm going to need a stick of dynamite," Phileas whispered. "We need to create a distraction that will draw their attention to us."

Rebecca quickly stopped Phileas as he was about to light the stick now in his hands as she whispered back, "You must be careful with that, Phileas. This is the same way Verne was being tortured when I first saw him. Gregory had said that we cannot damage the devices or remove the ring around his head without turning the bloody machine off, or we could damage his mind permanently."

Phileas nodded and answered, "Then, it is your job to do so and destroy that… what was it you told me it was back then?"

"I believe he called it an encryptor," she replied. "If I remember correctly, that device around his head feeds the thoughts and visions from Jules' mind into the images you see on the screen behind him, which then get recorded into the encryptor for Gregory to use for his world conquest."

"Barbaric!" Phileas responded angrily. "Shut it down and destroy it, Rebecca; whatever you must do. We cannot allow the league to have Verne's vision, no matter what. We will protect him and I will take care of the count."

It was then that Count Gregory called out for his scientist and doctor at the controls, whom the Foggs and Passepartout could not see, as they were hidden from their view, to turn up the charge on the dial, increasing the voltage and causing Jules to scream out in agony once again. Phileas quickly lit the dynamite's fuse and as it was about to blow, he tossed it into a crowd of the men to start a commotion, beginning the fight of their lives.

As soon as the three of them emerged and began to fight off his men as they charged them, the count shouted, "Stop them! Kill them! Fogg, you will not defeat me this time! Jules Verne is mine!"

While Passepartout and Rebecca focused on the majority of the league's men, Phileas zeroed in on Gregory, cutting through those in his way with his sword, then when the two of them came face to face, Phileas answered, "Jules Verne belongs to no one, least of all to a monster like you."

"Turn on the fusion power!" the count called out to his scientists again as his body was pulled together, as they had seen the men do before, allowing him to become whole once more so that he would be able to fight the dangerous man standing before him. "I now possess his mind, Phileas Fogg, and soon the sounmager will make it so that he will be nothing more than an empty shell. Soon, you will have failed to save him, as you failed to save your brother."

Phileas quickly looked back at Jules with fear as he saw that the sounmager, as the count had called it, was still draining life from his friend, also noticing the images flowing across the screen behind him, and then he turned back toward Count Gregory and shouted out angrily. "You and your League of Darkness have come after and tortured Jules Verne for the last time, Count. It shall never happen again, for you are dead, for good. Cutting the head off of the snake may not kill it right away, but it will certainly slow it down. Let your death be a warning to the rest of the league, and anyone else, who threatens to harm him."

As he said this, Fogg struck his sword forward against the count's body armor for the first attack in what was surely going to be their last swordfight, as one of them was going to be dead soon, one way or another. Gregory struck back, but Phileas was faster and managed to dodge the attack. Their swords clashed together as they both fought with vigor and all the strength they had.

Meanwhile, Rebecca struck down her own attackers as she fought to make her way through to the encryptor and torture device's controls and when she finally broke through, she knocked down the scientist, who was controlling the machine, quickly turned off the machine's power, and began to smash it as she had done once before.

She was so focused in doing so, that she didn't notice the scientist get back up and push several buttons on a machine that was behind her, then he cried out, "We may have failed to capture Verne's vision for the future, but we will destroy Catania and you will all die along with them."

"I stop it, Miss. Rebecca," Passepartout said once he finally finished knocking several more of the count's men, then he quickly ran into the room, and began to fight against the machine, which had started a chain reaction to cause the volcano to erupt, as the entire cavern began to shake. "Come on, work! Please, work!"

"Phileas, you must end this now!" Rebecca shouted out as she ran over to Jules, who was now unconscious from the strain of the torture put on him by the machine, blood trickling down from his nose. "Even if Passepartout can stop the eruption, this cavern is still caving in. We must leave!"

As they locked swords together, Count Gregory smugly spoke up saying, "It looks like this is the end, Phileas Fogg. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Fogg snarled as he replied, "I couldn't agree more."

All of a sudden, Phileas let go of his sword with one hand, quickly pulled out a dagger from behind his back, then swiftly thrust it straight through the center of the monster's throat, and back out. Gregory staggered back and starred at Fogg with as much hate as surprise and as he did so, Phileas raised his sword back up and smote off Count Gregory's head. When he finished, he ran over to join Rebecca as they worked to free Jules from the sinister contraption he had been locked into.

"I'll carry him," Phileas said softly as he gently lifted their young friend into his arms and then called out to Passepartout. "Come on!"

"I take count's head with us," the valet called back once he finished stopping the eruption, then picked up the villain's head, and together the three of them ran from the cavern as it began to collapse all around them.


	9. Chapter 9

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Nine

Phileas and Rebecca Fogg, as well as Passepartout, while the group's leader continued carrying Jules firmly within his arms, made their way back through the tunnel as quickly as possible to avoid being killed as the cavern and tunnel were collapsing behind them. As soon as they arrived back into the small prison, they made a last mad dash outside of the structure when the destruction finally ended, dust and debris pouring out of whatever was left of it.

When it settled, the three friends turned to look at the destruction behind them and then turned back as they finally heard the sounds of people screaming and crying out in fear for their lives, which they deduced was from the earth shaking. No doubt all of Catania believed that the volcano was going to erupt thanks to the count and his false prophet.

"We will need to ensure the people that they have nothing to fear and will no longer have to live their lives serving their god, but first, we must bring Verne to the physician's home so that Tom Nelson can help him," Phileas said despondently, then readjusted the precious load in his arms, and began to walk stiffly through the streets, through the city's citizens as they scrambled around like chickens, toward the doctor's home.

"I agree, but Phileas, what if the man still isn't home?" Rebecca asked fearfully. "Jules is terribly ill, much worse than what he appeared to be the last time the count had done this to him."

Passepartout, who was still carrying the count's head, though hidden underneath his coat to avoid it being seen by the public, quickly answered, "I will help him. I know little of medicine and if doctor cannot help Master Jules… I no let him die."

Phileas stopped and nodded as they finally stepped into the street outside of the physician's home, then responded, "I know you won't, Passepartout."

"Monsieur Fogg, Miss. Fogg, what are you… you found him?" the doctor spoke as he came rushing out of his home and noticed the ill young man in Phileas' arms. "Please, bring him inside."

"We came by earlier in hope of your assistance, but you weren't home at the time," Rebecca replied as for some unknown reason she felt uneasy by the man.

As he lead Phileas' toward the table where he apparently treated all of his patients, he answered, "Yes, I guessed as much when I noticed the body lying on my table after I arrived back home. What happened to him?"

Phileas responded, "It doesn't matter what happened to him. We're here so that you can help our friend."

"Your friend is who I meant, Monsieur," Tom replied as Passepartout quickly pulled the dead body off the table to make room for his master to lay Jules down after dropping Count Gregory's head on the floor, not realizing that he had.

"He was tormented by some kind of mind torture machine," Rebecca suspiciously answered as she noticed that Doctor Nelson saw the head fall to the floor and couldn't help but stare at it. "We don't know any more than that, I'm afraid."

Tom snapped out of his stare and then turned back to begin looking over Jules. Phileas, Rebecca, and their valet remained silent as he worked, not wanting to distract him from doing whatever it was he could do for their friend, who was still unconscious and whose body they could now see was beginning to burn up with fever they no doubt believed would only become worse.

No longer being able to handle just standing around doing nothing, Phileas finally grabbed a hold of Passepartout's coat and pulled him away from the others in order to talk to him in private as he asked quietly, "I need you to stay here and watch over Jules for us while Rebecca and I go out for a bit, do you understand?"

The Frenchman nodded as he responded, "Of course, I do this, Master. Is everything, okay?"

"No, Passepartout," their leader replied sadly. "Everything is not okay, but we must go to help calm the people out there and help them to see the truth about Count Gregory and Jacques. It is what Verne asked of us. We owe it to him to do so, but I do not want him here alone in case he should wake."

"I watch over him, Master," Passepartout answered firmly as Phileas walked back over to the table and bent down as he picked up the count's head in disgust, then placed it inside a bag he saw lying on one of the doctor's shelves to keep it hidden until it was needed. "Be careful. They no like us right now."

Rebecca leaned down over Jules and gently kissed his forehead in compassion, then moved to stand beside he cousin and responded, "Do not worry about us, Passepartout. We will be just fine. The head of the League of Darkness is finally dead. Once we know Jules will be all right, everything will be right again."

Their valet replied, "You is correct, Miss. Rebecca. Master Jules is in good hands."

"I do not trust that man, Phileas," Rebecca spoke up as soon as they both left the physician's home. "I cannot put my finger on why I feel so, but I suspect that he is not the same man we believed him to be when we met earlier."

"Why do you think, dear cousin, that I left Passepartout behind to stay with Verne?" Phileas asked in his usual smug manner. "I came to the same conclusion, but did so the moment we stepped through his door tonight. He is hiding something, as he seemed fearfully surprised to see us again, especially after finding the body, but we do not have time to figure out what right now. Passepartout will protect our friend should anything happen and soon we will be back to look after him ourselves."

Rebecca nodded and then asked, "Surely you saw the images Jules thought about up on that screen tonight?"

Phileas' face became grim as he asked himself, "You mean the ones of his ideas for the future, or the ones of our adventure in…"

"You know the one I mean, Phileas," she interrupted with disdain. "I mean the one he saw of himself being locked away inside a madhouse."

"Yes, I saw it," the Englishman answered sadly. "Deep down, a part of him fearfully believes he is going crazy. It's rubbish for sure, but he's been having nightmares and seeing things he knows are not there. It is all a part of his vision and because of us dragging him along with us on our adventures."

Rebecca responded, "You know that there's nothing we can say or do that will get him to stop joining us, Phileas."

Fogg replied, "Yes, I do know. That is what I am afraid of."


	10. Chapter 10

Prophecies of a False God

Chapter Ten

By the time they made their way through the panicking people and back at the large fountain where this whole mess had first begun, Phileas stood up on a section the fountain's structure, pulled out his gun from his coat pocket, and suddenly fired two shots into the air in order to gain their attention when Rebecca's attempts to gather them around by calling out for their attention failed.

"Thank you, Phileas," Rebecca said sarcastically and then turned to face the crowd as they finally gathered together, many of them scowling at the adventurers, believing that they were the ones responsible for their fear and misfortunes. "Please, we know that you have every reason to distrust us, as we know you believe that your so called god has forsaken you because we have led some of you astray, but…"

"It wasn't you that led us astray, but that friend of yours whom you tried to protect this morning," one of them retorted. "However, he is suffering for his blasphemy and lies."

Phileas stepped back down on the ground and angrily replied, "That friend of ours is suffering, but only because he was kidnapped and tormented by a vial and monstrosity of a man, who was the real liar. Jules Verne did not lie to you. He spoke the truth, as he always has."

Another citizen called out, "How do you explain the death of our prophet, the miracles that we have been given in the years past, the earthquake that happened moments ago? The volcano is going to erupt and destroy us all thanks to you!"

"You're wrong," Rebecca responded with as much sincerity as she could muster despite her anger toward them for their ignorance as well. "The volcano will not erupt any longer. Your god was nothing more than a man, a very powerful and dangerous man, but a man nonetheless, whom we know him as Count Gregory. He used science to create a machine that would cause the earth to shake and then create the eruption, but we shut it down. I cannot explain what he did for the other miracles you say has occurred here, but knowing him, he used science then as well."

"He did it all to trick you into believing he was a god that would destroy everything unless you did his bidding," Phileas continued. "He wanted you to give up your money in order to fund his many projects used to mold the future his way, with his own way of thinking; to destroy all the good in this world in order to create his own."

A man moved forward through the gathered crowd and spoke up saying, "You're lying. All of what you just said is not possible. Men cannot destroy and then recreate an entire world, only a god can."

Phileas bent down to open up the bag he carried, then pulled out the count's head, and tossed it onto the ground at the people's feet as he said, "This man believed he could and did a lot of evil in attempt to do so, but it is thanks to men like our friend, Jules Verne, that we have managed to put an end to his corruption and leadership of those known as the League of Darkness. This is the head of your so called god. Your prophet, Jacques, worked for him, did his bidding, up until his death, a way to ensure that those who began to doubt this foul creature when Verne arrived would forget and believe in him again."

"How do we know that we can trust you?" a woman asked fearfully. "We trusted him, or so you say, and look at what has happened to us."

"We don't expect you to trust us right away," Rebecca answered. "Just live your lives as you lived them before this monster came into your city and proclaimed himself a god. In time, you will see that you will flourish once again and be truly happy and free. Break down any statue you have erected in his image, as you know that it is not his image, break down any buildings you have erected in his name and you will see for yourselves that nothing bad will happen to you for doing so. Only then, will you come to know that what we speak is the truth. With their leader dead, along with many of his men, the League of Darkness no longer has a reason for being here in Catania. You will be safe."

Phileas walked over to his cousin, then after he bent down once again to pick up the head, and placed it back inside the bag, he said softly, "Come, Rebecca. We've done all we can here. We must go and see to Verne now."

Rebecca replied, "I quite agree, Phileas. Let's go."

Meanwhile…

Back inside the physician's home, Passepartout was wiping down Jules' brow and body with cool, wet rags in attempt to bring down the fever that was raging throughout him, while Tom was in another room mixing up what he said would be a medicine to help the young man deal with the pain. However, ever since the League of Darkness had sent Dr. Harwell to poison Jules and now that he knew that his master and Rebecca were suspicious of this man as well, the valet was going to make sure that his mixture was safe before allowing him to inject it into his friend.

"How is Mr. Verne faring?" Tom asked as Passepartout slowly walked into the room where he was and watched him begin to drain the liquid into a syringe. "Can I help you with something, Passepartout?"

The Frenchman responded, "No, no. I come to see what drug you plan to give him, is all. I wish to examine it, before you give it to him. Can you really help him?"

Dr. Nelson answered, "I can certainly try. This young man is very special to you and your masters, the Foggs, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is good friend," Passepartout replied. "Comes with us on many adventures and has brilliant mind."

"Yes, so I saw," Tom said quietly to himself as he walked back out to stand over Jules, followed closely by Passepartout, who could not hear what he had mumbled.

The valet quickly asked, "What did you say?"

The man kept his eyes down on Jules as he responded, "Nothing, I was only mumbling to myself. He must have a wonderful mind if he is traveling with the great Phileas Fogg. I have heard much about him, as well as his cousin."

"It isn't just for his mind that he is our friend," Passepartout retorted. "Jules is kind and brave. He has much…"

"Excuse me, my friend," the doctor interrupted snidely. "Would you mind going back into the room to bring me that sedative I prepared? I am getting old and forgetting a lot of things lately."

Passepartout answered, "As I say, I would like to examine first, if you do not mind. Besides, Jules needs no sedative, just drug to help him with pain. He is not awake to go crazy."

Dr. Nelson replied, "Of course, I, that is what I meant. Go right ahead. I will continue to administer to him using the cold compresses."

Passepartout didn't want to leave Jules alone with Tom any longer, as his suspicion of the doctor grew the longer he remained with him, but if he was going to examine the drug he had prepared, he would have to stay in the room where the man had made up the drug. He began to work, but as he did so, every few minutes Passepartout would walk to the door in order to keep his eyes on the man, who was still looming over Jules, apparently wiping him down as he said he would.

Tom noticed the valet doing so and so he knew what he was about to do was dangerous, but after Passepartout looked out at him again, the doctor quickly pulled out the syringe he had prepared and was about to inject it into the crook of Verne's arm, when Jules slowly opened his eyes and weakly began to struggle to get away from the man above him.

"N… no!" the writer barely cried out in fear as he fought weakly to push himself off of the table he was lying on. "Ge… get away from… from…"

"Hold still, Verne," Tom quietly said as he continued to struggle to inject the needle into the boy. "I am only trying to…"

Passepartout didn't hear Jules wake up at first as he was closely observing the powder that the doctor had used in the mixture and when he saw something strange about it, he quickly looked to pick up the syringe the man had filled, but when he found it wasn't anywhere to be seen, it was then that he suddenly heard Jules cry out and then rushed out to see what was going on, only to find the doctor fighting with his friend, who was now on the floor.

Passepartout cut the doctor off as he ran over and quickly pulled Tom off of his friend, whom the valet could now see was fighting to remain conscious, as the needle was sticking out from his arm. He lifted the man up and kneed him hard in the stomach, then punched him hard in the face, successfully knocking him out cold, and raced over to help Jules, beginning with pulling out the syringe.

It was then that Phileas and Rebecca arrived back at Tom's home as Phileas called out, "Passepartout, what the hell is going on?"

When Rebecca saw the valet lifting their friend into his arms and then lay him back down on the table and saw that Jules was beginning to writhe in pain, she ran over to them as she cried, "Jules! What's wrong with him?"

"Another drug," Passepartout responded as Jules' body slowly began to stop convulsing, though he continued to shake as if he were freezing cold. "Dr. Nelson is not good man. He try to poison Jules. Lucky, man did not get most of drug into body because Jules fight back. Master, Miss. Rebecca, you must hold him still as you can. I make up something to help him. He does not have long before body shut down."

"He didn't try to poison Verne, Passepartout," Phileas answered as he quickly moved to take over holding onto Jules while his valet ran back into the room to make up something to help fight off what it was the doctor had given him. "He bloody succeeded. You were supposed to be watching over him!"

Rebecca sat down at the top of the table as she laid Jules' head in her lap and began to stroke his face with another wet compress, then replied, "He was taking care of him, Phileas. If he hadn't have been there for him when he was, Jules might be dead now."

Fogg grumbled, "He didn't stop him completely, did he?"

Rebecca ignored him as Phileas grabbed a chair from nearby and sat down while he continued to hold onto his friend as if he could fade away any minute, while Rebecca fought back tears as she stroked the cloth over his face and along his neck. The both of them waited in silence as they stared down at Jules until Passepartout finally ran back out from the other room carrying another syringe in his hand and carefully injected its contents into Jules' neck, then stood back and waited to see if his work was enough to save him.

"How long will we have to wait until we know whatever you just gave him works, Passepartout?" Rebecca asked wearily.

"I do not know, Miss. Rebecca," their valet responded. "Jules is very, very ill and not just from poison. How he wake before… Blood coming out from his nose means possible brain damage and…"

Phileas finally looked up from staring down at Jules as he cut him off asking, "What kind of brain damage? He was well enough to recognize he was in danger when he woke. Surely, that means… I don't know. Surely that means he will be back to normal in no time."

Rebecca answered, "I do hope you are right, Phileas. How long do you suppose we have to wait for, Tom down there on the floor, to wake so that we can find out what exactly his plans were?"

"I guess not long," Passepartout replied as the doctor began to come to. "I make him wish he never meet us. No one harms friends on my watch."

"Well said, Passepartout," Phileas responded as he allowed Rebecca to take over holding onto Jules, so that he could confront Dr. Nelson. "So, Dr. Tom Nelson, you work for the league as well, do you? Surprised to see that your master will no longer be around to continue paying you for your services? We trusted you before when you told us where to find your false prophet. I don't take well to one betraying my trust. Why did you stick around to try to kill Jules Verne when you could have just left town, knowing Gregory was dead? Was it revenge?"

After rummaging through the doctor's personal belonging's throughout his home, Passepartout suddenly came back out of the other room as he interrupted, "He was trying to leave, Master; with missing part of encryptor."

Rebecca looked at him in confusion as she asked, "What missing part? I didn't notice."

"Before you smash it, I see a large piece missing," the valet answered. "I didn't think anything of it at time, but…"

"That piece holds an encryption of Jules' vision for the future," Rebecca cut him off. "Partial images only, but enough to start over and become the League of Darkness' new leader. You were there tonight helping the count to torment our friend."

Phileas continued, "Instead of being out helping the city's people earlier, you were with the count making sure that Verne didn't die before Gregory could extract all he needed from him. However, when we defeated your master, you ran, but you didn't run fast enough. Verne recognized you when he awoke. You thought he would, so you felt you needed to finish him off once and for all. You made a mistake in trying to kill our friend, Tom. Every part of me would like to strike you dead, but it is because of Jules Verne that we will bring you in to be imprisoned and tried for your crimes. Jules believes in true justice, not in revenge, but I assure you this, if he dies or if he does not go back to being himself after this ordeal, I will kill you."

As his master finished saying this, Passepartout suddenly smashed what was left of the encryptor and then replied darkly, "Then, I bury your body and no one know any better."

"You won't have to worry about me stopping you, Phileas," Rebecca stated. "Just promise you will shoot him or stab him once for me."

"I am not sure about the amount damage that has been done to his mind," Tom responded fearfully. "It is too soon to say whether or not he will be himself again, but I did not manage to inject much of the poison into his bloodstream before your valet attacked me. It appears that he saved him in time."

Phileas nodded and then answered, "Very good. Passepartout, get this vermin out of our sight. Knock him out and bring him to the Aurora, will you please? We're finally leaving this blasted city, that is, as long as you feel you can save Verne?"

Passepartout replied, "Si, Master. I will no let Master Jules die."

It was almost four days later when the Aurora finally arrived back their home in England, where the Foggs and Passepartout moved Jules from his small quarters aboard their flying ship and to his own room and large bed in order to make him more comfortable. The young writer still had yet to wake again, as fever continued to strongly take hold of his body, despite all the efforts the three friends made to help him, but his will to survive was strong, as death had yet to claim him.

Phileas and Rebecca considered stopping at a hospital somewhere closer than back in England in order to get professional assistance, but after being deceived by two different doctors that they had all put their trust in before, they weren't about to make that mistake again. Each of them, mainly Passepartout, took turns staying with him and treating him the entire trip home, despite the weariness they felt due to their lack of sleep.

Finally, early in the morning the fourth day, Jules opened his eyes slowly and groggily while he remained silent as he looked around the room as if he was confused by his surroundings. Phileas, Rebecca, and Passepartout looked between each other in fear that their friend no longer knew who they were, or even himself anymore. However, they were also afraid to be the first ones to speak, not sure of what it was they could possibly say so that they wouldn't frighten him.

"I knew… that you would fin… find me," Jules spoke roughly and barely above a whisper. "Thank you."

"So, you remember us?" Passepartout asked hopefully. "You remember you?"

Jules smiled weakly as he answered, "Yes, Passepartout, I remem… remember you; all of you."

Rebecca smiled and then leaned down to kiss him once again on his forehead in compassion as Phileas nodded and responded, "Of course he remembers all. How could he not? After all, we make a point to be memorable."

"Count Greg…?" Jules began to ask until he broke off into a coughing fit, then as Passepartout helped him drink some water, Rebecca replied, "Count Gregory is dead, Jules. We finally took him down for good. His head is buried in a place only the three of us know about so that even the most powerful magic on earth cannot possibly bring him back to life.

The league is without a leader, but if they continue the count's work, we will do as we've always done," Phileas continued. "We will stop them. The count cannot hurt you ever again, Jules."

Jules responded, "You were worried… about me."

"Yes, my friend," Phileas answered sincerely for a change, when normally he would answer this with a snide remark instead, confirming to Jules and the others that the man truly did have a good heart, though he didn't show it nearly as often as they did. "We were all very worried, but you're alive and soon will be well again so that we you continue joining us on our adventures, as it should be. That is, if you would like."

"I would like nothing more," the youngest member of their family replied.

Rebecca gently patted his cheek and Passepartout his shoulder, then they both left the room, leaving Phileas standing at Verne's bedside alone until he then smiled and turned to leave as well as he said softly, "Get some rest. We'll be here if you need us."

Jules responded, "I know."

As he looked down at the young man, whom he admired so much, Phileas swore to himself then that he would do whatever he could in order to ensure that the vision he and Rebecca had seen of him inside the madhouse, as Jules feared would happen one day, would never come to pass.

If anyone tried to say he was crazy, they would surely answer to both Phileas and Rebecca Fogg. Jules Verne had a kind heart and a brilliant mind that far surpassed anyone else of their time, no doubt as well as those in the future, a future that would be beautiful and full of splendor thanks to this young writer with vision and idealist.

The End


End file.
